June 11, 2023, marks the Solemnity of Corpus Christi and the inauguration of the Year of Parish Revival! As we continue to cultivate Revival at the grassroots level nationwide, we are offering a sneak peak at the Playbook for the Year of Parish Revival (releasing in late April) to help you and your parish get ready to live the Revival more intensely. Fr. Craig Vasek kicks off this preview with a stirring exhortation rooted in kerygmatic Eucharistic preaching. In the coming weeks, we’ll feature four short videos from Tim Glemkowski, Executive Director of the National Eucharistic Congress, that will dive deeper into each of the four steps we are encouraging everyone to take during the parish year.
The Lord Jesus is drawing all of humanity to Himself (John 12:32) and pouring the Holy Spirit upon us (Acts 2:33; John 14:15,26). The message of salvation—echoed throughout the ages through the church—is to repent, to be washed in the Blood of Jesus1 for the forgiveness of sins, and thus to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). What occurred in an upper room, as the Holy Spirit descended in fire and wind upon the Virgin Mary and the disciples, filling them with heaven’s gift (Acts 1:13-14; 2:1-4), that same outpouring of heaven has been the renewed petition of the Church for over 60 years2. It’s what we are praying for in the United States at present. We are praying that God would bring about a revival. Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, quotes from the prophet Joel, calling on the people to repent (Joel 2:12; Joel 3:1-2; Acts 2:17-21). The gift of the Spirit follows sincere repentance. At Pentecost, the people were asking a question, and we do well to ask the same question: “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Hear Peter’s response: “Repent, and be baptized,3 every one of you, for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
The National Eucharistic Revival is, first and foremost, a petition to God that he revives our country, that he brings dead things to life, that he moves us to conversion which springs from repentance, that he pours out his Holy Spirit as he did upon the first believers, ushering in a new Pentecost in the United States, here and now. Please, God, revive our land.
The National Eucharistic Revival is about repentance and conversion, a plea for an explosion of saving faith, faith in the person of Jesus Christ, whose death brought life to a perishing world (Luke 19:10; Romans 5:6-10). Faith in the person of Jesus Christ, who promised to be with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20), who gives himself to us in a most marvelous way in his Eucharistic gift (Luke 22:19-20). As Jesus revealed his provision for the Church to be united to him, he said this: “the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (John 6:57). Jesus wants to communicate his life to us by having us receive his life, through participation in his Body and his Blood, the Holy Eucharist.
While we repent, seeking the Lord to revive and heal our souls, our Church, and our nation, we invite you also to take some practical steps within your parish community.
Fostering Opportunities to Encounter Jesus
What are the ways by which you can foster opportunities for people to encounter Jesus this year, either through invitations to small groups, Bible studies, Holy Mass, holy hours, or other paths which are available to you?
Reinvigorate Worship
What can be done to reinvigorate the experience of worship wherever you are by honoring the Lord’s Day, giving him our best, and coming4 to worship the Lord of the universe with faith, devotion, and attentive minds and hearts?
Provide Robust Formation
In what ways can you choose to come to a deeper knowledge of the truth by reading Sacred Scripture, joining in parish studies, and making connections between the teaching of Christ and his Church and your daily life?
Send Missionaries
In what ways can you respond to the great commission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19-20)? Since God desires all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), and he plans to use you to assist him (1 Peter 2:9), to whom can you reach out and invite to take a step towards the Lord? Where are opportunities in your area to serve those in need? You are being sent into the world: in what practical ways can you say, “Here I am … send me” (Isaiah 6:8), and then go?
Do What He Tells You
Let’s go back to that first question that people were asking Peter at Pentecost: “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). I invite you to ask that same question to the Lord in your own personal prayer, or with a group of people in your area, or as a full church community. Ask the Lord “What shall we do?”, and then do what he tells you (John 2:5). God bless you!
[1] The sacrament of Baptism is the principal way for the forgiveness of sins. The subsequent sacramental way is Penance.
[2] Pope Leo XIII inserted the Novena preceding Pentecost even longer ago; Pope Saint John XXIII called for the Second Vatican Council and a new Pentecost; subsequent popes have done likewise.
[3] Or, if baptized, repent and go to the sacrament of Penance.
[4] Whether as celebrant or as the faithful
